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The Imperial Press 



Printing in Relation 
to Graphic Art 

By George French 



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Cleveland 

The Imperial Press 

1903 



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Copyright, 1903, by George French 



Contents 



PAGB 



Prefatory Note vii 

Introduction i 

Chapter i 
Art in Printing 1 1 

Chapter ii 
Pictorial Composition 23 

Chapter hi 
Type Composition 31 

Chapter iv 
Proportion and the Format .... 41 

Chapter v 
Color 51 

Chapter vi 
Tone 63 

Chapter vii 
Light and Shade 71 

Chapter viii 
Values 77 

Chapter ix 
Paper 83 

Chapter x 
Style 93 

Chapter xi 
The Binding 105 

Chapter xii 
Specifications 115 



Prefatory Note 

It is not the purpose of this book to try to 
estabhsh a claim for printing that it is an art. 
It is hoped that it may show that the princi- 
ples of art may be applied to printing, and that 
such application may lead to improvement in 
some essentials of printing. 

Thanks are due to several experts in print- 
ing who have read the proofs, and have given 
wise and acceptable counsel. 

I desire to acknowledge that aid has been 
freely sought from books upon art, and that in 
some instances forms of expression have been 
adopted from them. No originality is claimed 
for the allusions to art, nor for art terms and 
formulas employed. 

September, 1903. 



Introduction 




Introduction 

ECAUSE it is difficult to per- 
fectly transfer a thought from 
one mind to another it is essen- 
tial that the principal medium 
through which suchtransference 
is accomplished may be as perfect as it is poss- 
ible to make it. 

It is not wholly by means of the literal sig- 
nificance of certain forms of words that ideas 
are given currency, whether the words are 
spoken or printed. In speaking it is easy to 
convey an impression opposed to the literal 
meaning of the words employed, by the tone, 
the expression, the emphasis. It is so also with 
printed matter. The thought or idea to be com- 
municated acquires or loses force, directness, 
clearness, lucidity, beauty, in proportion to the 
fitness of the typography employed as a me- 
dium. 

It is not primarily a question of beauty of 
form that is essential in printing, but of the 
appropriateness of form. Beauty for itself alone 
is, in printing, but an accessory quality, to be 

[3 ] 



considered as an aid to the force and clarity of 
the substance of the printed matter. 

An object of art illustrating forms and ex- 
pressions of beauty subtly suggests esthetic or 
sensuous emotions, which play upon the differ- 
ing consciousnesses of beholders as their ca- 
pacities and natures enable them to appreciate 
it. The impulse received from the art object is 
individually interpreted and appropriated, and 
its value to the individual is determined by each 
recipient, in accord with his nature, training, 
and capacity. 

The motive of a piece of printing is driven 
into the consciousness of the reader with brutal 
directness, and it is one of the offices of the 
typographer to mitigate the severity of the mes- 
sage or to give an added grace to its welcome. 

The book has become such a force as had 
not been dreamed of a generation ago. The 
magical increase in the circulation of books, by 
sale and through libraries, is one of the modern 
marvels. It is inevitable that the gentle and 
elevating influence of good literature will be 
greater and broader in proportion to the in- 
crease of the reading habit, for despite the great 
amount of triviality in literature the propor- 
tion of good is larger than ever before, and the 
trivial has not as large a proportion of absolute 
badness. The critical are prone to underrate 

[4] 



the influence of what they esteem trivial litera- 
ture upon the lives of the people who read 
little else. It is certain that there is some good 
in it, and that it affects the lives of those who 
read it. Even the most lawless of the bandits 
of the sanguinary novels has a knightly strain 
in his character, and his high crimes and mis- 
demeanors are tempered with a certain imper- 
ative code of homely morality and chivalry. 
The spectacular crimes are recognized by the 
majority of readers as the stage setting for the 
tale — the tabasco sauce for the literary pabu- 
lum. They are not considered to be essential 
traits of admirable character. The cure for the 
distemper it is supposed to excite resides in the 
sensational literature of the day ; it is as likely 
to lead to better things, it may be, as it is likely 
to deprave. 

The cultivating power of any book is en- 
hanced if it is itself an object of art. If it is made 
in accord with the principles of art, as they are 
applicable to printing and binding, it will have 
a certain refining influence, independent of its 
literary tendency. 

If we are to subscribe to the best definition 
of esthetics, we are bound to recognize in the 
physical character of the books that are read 
by masses of people a powerful element for ar- 
tistic education, and one lending itself to the 

[ 5] 



educational propaganda with ready acquies- 
cence and inviting eagerness. 

The business and the mechanics of printing 
have attained a high degree of perfection. The 
attention bestowed upon the machinery of 
business, the perfection of systems and meth- 
ods, has brought commercial and mechanical 
processes to a degree of perfection and finish 
that leaves slight prospect of further improve- 
ment, more illuminating systems, or more exact 
methods. The business of printing is conduct- 
ed in a manner undreamt of by the men who 
were most consequential a generation ago. O nly 
a few years have passed since the methods that 
now control in the counting-rooms of the larg- 
er printshops were unknown. Now all is sys- 
tem; knowledge, by the grace of formulas and 
figures. 

A like condition prevails in the work rooms : 
in the composing-room and the pressroom. 
The processes incident to printing have been 
improved, in a mechanical way, until little is 
left for hope to feed upon. The trade of the 
printer has been broken into specialized units. 
The "all 'round" printer is no more. In his 
place there is the hand compositor, the " ad " 
compositor, the job compositor, the machine 
operator, the make-up man, the pressman, the 
press feeder, etc., each a proficient specialist 
[6] 



but neither one a printer. To further mechani- 
caHze the working printers, the planning of the 
work has been largely taken into the count- 
ing-room, or is done in detail at the foreman's 
desk. So every influence has been at work to 
limit the versatility and kill the originality of 
the man at the case. The compensatory reflec- 
tion is the probability that the assembly of 
results accomplished by expert units may be a 
whole of a higher grade of excellence. 

The process of specialized improvement has 
been carried through all the mechanical depart- 
ments, and has had its way with every machine 
and implement, revolutionizing them and their 
manipulation also. The time is ripe for a new 
motive of improvement and advance to become 
operative. The mechanical evolution may well 
stay its course. It has far outstripped the ar- 
tistic and the intellectual motives. It is quite 
time to return to them and bring them up to 
the point reached by the mechanics of the craft, 
if it be found not possible to put them as far 
in advance as their relative importance seems 
to demand. 

It is not difficult to conclude that certain 
principles of art have been influential in print- 
ing since the craft was inaugurated by Guten- 
berg and Fust and their contemporaries, but 
it appears that the relation between printing 

[7] 



and the graphic arts has not yet been fully and 
consciously acknowledged. Some of the older 
rules and principles of printing are in perfect 
harmony with the principles and rules of art, 
and undoubtedly had their origin in the same 
necessity for harmony that lies in human na- 
ture and that was the seed of art principles. 

Printing touches life upon so many of its fac- 
ets, and is such a constant constituent of it, that 
it requires no special plea to raise it to the 
plane of one of the absolute forces of culture 
and one of the most important elements of 
progress. This postulate admitted, and the plea 
for the fuller recognition of the control of art 
principles in printing needs to be pressed only 
to the point of full recognition, and it requires 
no stretch of indulgent imagination to find 
printing successfully asserting a claim to berec- 
ognized as an art. It is manifest that printing 
is not an art in the sense that painting is an art. 
Painting has no utilitarian side. It is, with it, 
art or nothing. Printing is 99- 1 ooths utilitarian. 
It is essentially a craft. If there is a possibility 
latent in it of development of true art through 
refinement and reform in its processes, and 
the application of art principles, to the end 
that the possibility of the production of occa- 
sional pieces that can demonstrate a claim to 
be art be admitted, it is all that can be hoped. 

[8] 



This is claiming for printing only that which 
is conceded to the other crafts. There is no 
claim put forward for silversmiths that their 
work is all artistic ; the chief part of it is very 
manifestly craftsmanship, yet examples that 
are true art constantly appear. The same is 
true of wood carving, of repousse work in met- 
als, and of many crafts. It may be true of print- 
ing, and will be when printers themselves be- 
come qualified to view their craftsmanship from 
the point of view of the artist, and feel for it 
that devotion which is always the recognizable 
controlling motive of artists in other graphic 
arts, and in those crafts that verge upon the 
graphic arts. 



[9] 



Art in Printing 




Art in Printing 

HERE is this vital difference 
between other objects of art 
and printing : That our asso- 
ciation with them is purely 
voluntary, and that printing 
forces itself upon us at all times and in every 
relation of Hfe. It is impossible for a person of 
intelligence to remove himself from the influ- 
ence of printing. It confronts him -at every 
turn, and in every relation of life it plays an 
important and insistent part. 

Such examples of art as a painting or a piece 
of statuary exert a certain influence upon a 
restricted number of persons ; and it is at all 
times optional with all persons whether they 
submit themselves to the influence of such art 
objects. We are able to evade the influence of 
other forms of art, but we are not able to ward 
off printing. To it we must submit. It is con- 
stantly before our eyes ; it is forever exerting 
its power upon our consciousness. It is quite 
possible that we may not at present be able 
to refer any quality of mind, or any degree of 

[ -3 ] 



cultivation, directly to printing, in any form it 
may have been presented to us ; but it is easily 
conceivable that printing has a certain influence 
upon our esthetic life which has been so con- 
stant and so habitual as to have escaped definite 
recognition. 

If we engage our minds in some attempt to 
realize the quality and extent of pleasure and 
profit derivable from the constant influence of 
printing that conforms to artistic principles, we 
may perceive that it may be a most powerful 
and effectual agency for culture. It is under- 
stood that it is the gentle but constant influ- 
ence that moulds our habits and lives the more 
readily and lastingly. If therefore it is possible 
for us to conceive that the printed page of a 
book may illustrate and enforce several of the 
more elemental and important principles un- 
derlying graphic art, we may thereby realize 
that printing may readily be employed in the 
character of a very powerful art educator, if be- 
cause of certain inalienable limitations it must 
be denied full recognition as a member of the 
sisterhood of arts. 

The book page may be regarded as the pro- 
toplasm of all printing. If we examine the re- 
lation of principles of art to the book page we 
will be able to appreciate the exact importance 
of those principles in the composition of any 

[ h] 



other form of printing, and to so apply them 
as to secure results most nearly relating print- 
ing to graphic art. 

It is the chief characteristic of this uncertain 
dogma of art in printing that its limitations 
and variations defy the conventional forms of 
expression, and almost require a new vocabu- 
lary of art terms. It assuredly requires a new 
and a different comprehension of the terms of 
art, and a distinctly varied comprehension of 
the word art itself It has ever been a stum- 
bling block to printers that the word art as 
applied to their craft must be given a more 
limited significance than is given it in its usual 
acceptance. If we can come at some intelligible 
appreciation of what we mean by art in print- 
ing the way will be opened for the application 
of that motive to the work of the presses. 

If we recognize at once the fact that we do 
not mean exactly what a painter means when 
we use the word art with reference to printing, 
we will have taken the vital step toward a com- 
prehensible employment of the term, as well 
as qualified ourselves for an understanding of 
the results we desire to achieve. 

It is essential that we do not fall into the er- 
ror of supposing that scientific accuracy is art. 
It is destructive of art, and the temptation to 
put too much stress upon exactitude is a mis- 

[ -5] 



take the printer must guard himself from with 
the most sedulous care. It is agreeable to rec- 
ognize the touch of the artist, in printing as 
in other arts, and scientific accuracy is certain 
to obliterate individuality. It is not the cold, 
lifeless abstraction, the shining exemplar of all 
the precepts and rules of art, that we love and 
desire, but the human note speaking through 
the principles and rules. If the artist is not the 
dominant note, and the rules submerged by 
the personality, there is no value in the object 
of art. The picture is interesting because the 
artist expresses through it his appreciation, his 
interpretation, of a beautiful thought or a love- 
ly thing. This is what puts the most faithful 
photographs outside of the pale of art, and com- 
pels the idealization of the performance of the 
camera before it can be considered to be ar- 
tistic. The photograph is not, usually, true to 
our view of life. I fit is indeed true to life it rep- 
resents a view of life that is quite strange to us, 
and often distasteful. We are not familiar with 
the uncouth animal the photograph shows us 
the horse in action to be, and we will not accept 
that caricature as the real horse. The horse that 
is real to us is the animal we see with our eyes, 
and the horse in art must be the animal we see 
plus the artist's logical idealization. The facts 
are the same with regard to nearly all of the 
[ i6] 



work of the camera, and with regard to other 
attempts at scientific accuracy in art. It is for- 
eign to our experience, and does violence to 
our ideals. We actually see no such automa- 
tons as photography shows us men in action are, 
and we can never accept such disillusionment. 
If it is attempted in the name of art we will 
turn upon art and throw it out of our lives. 

It is the irredeemable fault of some proc- 
esses employed in printing that they are too 
scientifically accurate. This is the legitimate ar- 
gument against the halftone plate as contrasted 
with the line engraving or the reproductions 
of pen-and-ink work, etc. The halftone is too 
accurate. It brings us face to face with the stark 
reality, and brushes away all the kindly ro- 
mance nature has made a necessary adjunct to 
our powers of vision. Attempts to restore this 
quality to halftones with the graver are only 
partially successful, as the defect is too deep 
seated, too radically fundamental. Some other 
processes, other than reproductive processes, 
employed in printing are exposed to this dan- 
ger of too much scientific accuracy, producing 
results that have no warmth, no sympathy, no 
human power. Printing is peculiarly the victim 
of this cold formality of sentiment, and must 
be considered as upon that plane. But this fact 
makes the obligation to be alive to every 

[•7] 



opportunity to mitigate its severity the more 
pressing upon every printer who dreams of his 
work as of an art, and the closer the sympathy 
between the printer and the culture of art the 
more warmth and humanity he will be able to 
infuse into his work. 

Some of the principles of art have a funda- 
mental relation to printing, while some have 
an influence upon it so illusive as to defy defi- 
nition, and compel us to look upon the con- 
nection as something no more substantial than 
feeling. Indeed, the whole matter of the appli- 
cation of art principles to printing may not 
unfairly be considered to be one of feeling ; in- 
volving the saturation of the printer with the 
rules and tenets of art and the adding thereto 
of a fine discrimination tempered by a resolute 
philistinism, and then the play of his cultivat- 
ed individuality upon the typography. 

Principles and rules of art for the printer's 
guidance must be more mobile than can be 
permitted for the guidance of the painter, the 
draughtsman, the engraver, or the sculptor, be- 
cause the medium for the expression of the 
printer's conception is so nearly immobile. It 
is the reverse of the general conception: The 
rule must adapt itself to the medium and to 
the circumstances, at least so far as the measure 
of its observance is concerned, if not in some 

[ -n 



emergencies where its principle is also at stake. 
It is conceivable in printing that emergencies 
may occur making it imperative to ignore the 
primary rules of composition, of proportion, 
of balance, or of perspective; it may be neces- 
sary to even do violence to principles relating 
to color or to tone. Such emergencies must be 
exceedingly rare, but that we are forced to re- 
gard them as possible emphasizes the subtle 
difference between art and art in printing. There 
can be no good art if the principles of art are 
violated in execution ; there may be good print- 
ing if the principles of art are occasionally mod- 
ified or even ignored. 

The motive of printing is not primarily an 
art motive. It is a utilitarian motive. In print- 
ing therefore art is to be invoked for guidance 
only so far as it will lend itself to the expres- 
sion of the motive. It is never, in printing, 
"art for art's sake"; it is ever art for printing's 
sake. We do not print to illustrate art, nor to 
produce objects of art. We print to spread in- 
telligence — to make knowledge available to 
all who will read. A painted picture, if of a high 
order of art, is meant to appeal to a sentiment 
but slightly connected with the " story " of the 
picture. The appreciative observer of a good 
painting gives little thought to the "story," to 
the literary motive, but is absorbed in seeking 

[ 19] 



for the artistic motive, in order that he may 
yield himself to the charm of the work of art ; 
he seeks " art for art's sake." 

In printing it is the "story" that is told; 
it is the literary motive that must be consid- 
ered, first and most anxiously. Nothing may 
interfere — not even art. The shaft of the 
" story " must go, swift and true, straight into 
the comprehension of the reader. This is the 
constant anxiety of the printer. The literary 
motive must not be encumbered. It must be 
freed from the mechanics of the printed page 
absolutely. This is the printer's problem. He 
must not seek to attract to his mechanics. It 
is the essence of his art that he liberate ideas 
and send them forth with no ruffled pinions, 
no evident signs of the pent-house page from 
which they wing their way. 

The printer's work and the painter's art ex- 
actly reverse their processes, as their motives 
are opposed ; but they must both work with the 
same tools, measurably. Everything with the 
painter is plastic, except his art. Everything is 
immobile with the printer, except his art ; and 
of that he hopes to employ only so much as 
will gild the prosaic commercialism of the mo- 
tive he must express. The chief principles and 
tenets of art are all applicable to the craft of 
printing, in some degree. Drawing, composi- 

[20] 



tion, harmony, balance, proportion, perspec- 
tive, color, tone, light-and-shade, values, etc., 
are qualities of graphic art that apply to print- 
ing with varying force, according to the ex- 
igencies of each particular case in hand, and 
particularly according to the comprehension 
and cultivation of the printer. It is always pos- 
sible to explain the beauty and power of any 
piece of printing by reference to the same prin- 
ciples that are responsible for the excellencies 
of other works of graphic art. It is therefore 
logical to assume that those principles which 
explain the excellencies of printing are respon- 
sible for them. 

It is evident that the value of these art qual- 
ities in printing must depend upon the care 
and intelligence exercised in their application. 
They are refinements upon the usual and pri- 
mary practices of printing, and unless they can 
be employed with full sympathy and knowl- 
edge, as well as with the artistic spirit and com- 
prehension, they will appeal to the printer in 
vain. 

The question with the printer is : Is it worth 
while to give my work all the beauty and dis- 
tinction and power possible? If it is decided 
that it is profitable to execute work as worth- 
ily as it is possible to execute it, the printer will 
not be satisfied if he does not devote himself 

[21 ] 



to a study of this phase of his craft, and a study 
of sufficient breadth and thoroughness to give 
him a reliable basis of knowledge and the re- 
sultant self-confidence. Having proceeded thus 
far he will not fail to apply all these art tenets 
to the full extent of his knowledge and their 
adaptability. 



["] 



Pictorial Composition 




Pictorial Composition 

iHILE too much science is 
often deadly to art, the true 
basis of pictorial composi- 
tion is rigidly scientific, and 
all of the principles govern- 
ing it are of use and importance to the printer, 
especially in planning displayed work and in 
title pages. 

Composition is that quality which gives a 
picture coherence, "the mortar of the wall." 
It was not esteemed of importance by the old 
masters, and many of their works do not show 
that they knew or cared for that which distin- 
guishes a picture from a map, a group photo- 
graph, or a scientific diagram. It is the absence 
of composition, balance, unity, that makes or- 
dinary photographs something other than true 
works of art. It is not primarily truth of rep- 
resentation that is necessary in a work of art, 
but truth of idealization; and that quality is be- 
yond the conscious reach of the camera's lens. 
It is a redeeming and a justifying element add- 
ed by the imagination of the artist. There may 



be a picture, by a photographer or by a painter, 
having all the requisite component parts to 
make it a work of art ; there may be, for ex- 
ample, a woman, an axe, a road, a mountain, 
trees ; but these thrown together upon a can- 
vas do not make a work of art unless they are 
properly composed, even if they are arranged 
in an order satisfying to the realist, and each 
faultlessly executed. It is not the same thing 
to paint and to make pictures; to print and to 
execute artistic printing. 

The application of the rules of composition 
to pieces of printing made up in a whole or in 
part of "display" types is obviously essential 
to their beauty. It is the touch of beauty given 
to science that produces art. In printing the 
matter of securing balance and unity is at once 
more simple and more difficult than in paint- 
ing. The component parts to be dealt with are 
more rigid and restricted, but are purely con- 
ventional and precise. The painter's concep- 
tion is given balance and unity through the 
original drawing and color-scheme corrected 
and perfected by constant scrutiny and by tests 
and continual alterations. The printed piece 
must be balanced by a wise choice and skilful 
arrangement of the types, and a careful distri- 
bution of white space and black ink, or color. 
The actual center of a canvas is the center 
[ ^-6] 



of attraction in a picture perfectly balanced. 
This does not mean that an equal amount of 
paint must be spread upon every quarter of 
the canvas, nor that objects of equal visual im- 
portance in themselves must be equally distrib- 
uted over it. A tiny dot of distinctive paint, 
placed a certain distance from the center of the 
canvas, may perfectly balance an object ten 
times its size which is placed relatively nearer 
the center. Balance in printing must not be un- 
derstood to mean that there must be an equal 
distribution of weight over all quarters of the 
piece, but that there must be a compensatory 
distribution of weight. 

I n his lucid and interesting book, upon " Pic- 
torial Composition" Mr. H. R. Poore gives 
a series of " postulates" which embody his ideas 
upon the subject, and are expressed in terms 
intelligible to the non-artistic as well as to those 
whose familiarity with art enables them to 
grasp more technical phrases. To the printer 
it is only necessary to suggest that he inter- 
pret "units" as meaning features in his work 
and he will be able to appreciate that these art 
rules may not infrequently stand him in good 
stead, especially when he is perplexed with 
some piece of work that he is having difficulty 
in making " look right." Those of Mr. Poore's 
"postulates" that appear to apply easily to 

[^7] 



printing, and may be more profitably studied 
and heeded by printers and others interested 
in typography, are here given: 

All pictures are a collection of units. 

Every unit has a given value. 

The value of a unit depends on its attrac- 
tion ; of its character, of its size, of its place- 
ment. 

A unit near the edge has more attraction than 
at the center. 

Every part of the picture space has some at- 
traction. 

Space having no detail may possess attrac- 
tion by gradation and by suggestion. 

A unit of attraction in an otherwise empty 
space has more weight through isolation than 
the same when placed with other units. 

A unit in the foreground has less weight 
than one in the distance. 

Two or more associated units may be reck- 
oned as one and their united center is the point 
on which they balance with others. 

In the application of the rules of composi- 
tion to graphic art it is possible to minutely sub- 
divide the topic and refer to specific examples 
and explicit rules for practice. The selection of 
the particular kind of balance to be sought de- 
pends upon the placement of the important 
item or subject, which is in itself chiefly impor- 
tant in the scheme of balance as giving the key- 

[28 ] 



note, furnishing the starting point. There is the 
balance of equal measures, which is a picture 
or piece of printing which may be cut into four 
equal parts, by horizontal and vertical lines 
drawn through its center, with each part show- 
ing equal weight; the balance of isolated meas- 
ures, where the chief item is placed away from 
the center and has one or more isolated spots 
to compensate, skilfully placed ; the horizon- 
tal balance; the vertical balance; the formal 
balance ; the balance by opposition of light and 
dark measures; balance by gradation; balance 
of isolation, and other varieties of balance more 
technical and more especially adapted to the 
painter's uses. Each of these variants of the 
basic rules of composition may be of special 
value to the printer, if he studies the subject 
sufficiently to gain a clear comprehension of 
how each applies in printing. 

This is one of the art subjects that the prac- 
tical printer may deem of too slight conse- 
quence to merit his careful attention. But if it is 
desired to produce printing of power — power 
to pleasurably attract the eye of those persons 
who possess either an instinctive or a cultivated 
taste for art — it is essential that the work ad- 
here closely to the rules governing pictorial 
composition. The eye is a relentless judge. 
Here, as in all printing, the esthetic motive 

[--9] 



is identical with the business consideration. 
There is a double motive for the best printing, 
the esthetic and the business motive, and it is 
impossible to separate them, or consider either 
apart from the other. It is unnecessary to at- 
tempt to evade the force and meaning of the 
new appreciation of the basis of good printing, 
as it leads so surely to financial as well as es- 
thetic betterment, and should be congenial to 
the tastes of every printer who has advanced in 
his craft beyond the standards of the wood- 
sawyer. 



[30] 



Type Composition 




Type Composition 

HE composition of type is the 
first task an apprentice is re- 
quired to undertake when he 
goes to "learn the trade," and 
his ideas regarding its impor- 
tance rarely rise above the level of the drudgery 
of his early days at the case. But little of the 
effort to improve the quality of printing has as 
yet extended back to this primary proceeding, 
the setting of the type, yet in this fundamental 
operation lies the possibility for very great im- 
provement and distinction, and for lamentable 
failure. 

Progress in typography has been slower, and 
it has reached a less advanced position, than 
haveotherbranchesofthe printing craft. Press- 
work for example has become so nearly perfect 
as to leave little room for the exercise of the 
critic's art ; and the choice and manipulation of 
paper leaves little hope for radical advance. 
Type is set as it was set one, two, three gener- 
ations ago, for the most part. A few printers 
have given this subject special study, and are 

[33 ] 



executing book pages that are the wonder and 
despair of the craft. Their distinction has been 
rather easily won. It is quite possible to detect 
the source of it, and not difficult to draw the 
same results from the same fount. 

It has become a habit to accept the com- 
posed page of type as the foundation upon 
which to erect a fine piece of printing. The 
real foundation lies somewhat further back. 
There can scarcely be distinction in a printed 
piece unless its source is in the successive steps 
of progress that antedate the composition of 
the type. The final artistic result must be clear- 
ly conceived in the mind of the printer before 
he drops one type into the stick. His scheme 
must be fully developed, and it must be con- 
sistent in all its details. 

The type for a piece of printing should be 
selected to give adequate expression to the lit- 
erary motive, to properly emphasize the sub- 
ject matter, with the view to the production of 
a handsome and worthy piece of printing. To 
secure this latter quality in printing is the pri- 
*mary object of the typesetter, and therein lies 
the proof of his skill and of his taste. Wheth- 
er the type selected is the best possible for a 
given piece of work may be a debatable ques- 
tion, but however it succeeds or fails in this 
particular, the printer may manipulate it in 

[34] 



such a manner as will result in a consistent and 
artistic example of typography. He may use 
the sizes which should be in conjunction ; he 
may avoid the common anachronism of lower- 
case and capital-letter lines in the same piece ; 
he may place his white space so that it will not 
only be agreeably proportioned to the black or 
other color of the print but so that it will be 
as important an element of strength as the ink- 
covered surface ; he may adjust the margins. 

These points are all vital, but none of them 
more so than the use of lower-case and capital- 
letter lines in conjunction. The capital letters 
of the ordinary font of type do not lend them- 
selves gracefully to the making of complete 
words. They are not designed for such work. 
The lower-case letters are designed to stand to- 
gether, but it is impossible to combine many 
capital letters without making noticeable gaps 
and breaks and some awkward connections. But 
the objection to capital-letter lines in conjunc- 
tion with lower-case lines does not rest chiefly 
upon this point. There are fonts of type from 
which capital-letter lines scarcely subject to the 
cristicism suggested may be set. The objection 
is not urged against capital-letter lines in a pro- 
hibitive sense, but because their intrusion in a 
company of lower-case lines destroys harmony. 
A like deplorable effect is produced by the use 

[35] 



of inharmonious series of type for the same 
piece of typography. The war of styles of type 
is as destructive to artistic effect as the poorest 
execution can be. In the old days the appren- 
tice was taught to alternate lower-case and cap- 
ital-letter lines in job printing, and avoid using 
two lines of the same series in conjunction. 

No one of the small refinements which are 
now being applied to composition has worked 
so radical an improvement as the newer ideas 
relative to spacing, and the perception that the 
spacing between words, the leading between 
Hnes, and the degree of blackness of the face 
of the letter, must have a balanced relation. 
This has operated to abolish the conventional 
em quadrat after the period, and to produce a 
page of type-matter which lends itself readily 
to securing tone and optical comfort. 

The activity and the fecundity of the type 
founders in producing new type faces has oper- 
ated, in the first instance, to furnish new ex- 
cuse for discord. Then a reaction began, and the 
liberality of the founders in making complete 
lines and elaborate series of type faces is sug- 
gesting uniformity in scheme and supplying 
material for consistent execution. The elabo- 
rate specimen books are scarcely a temptation 
to restraint however, nor do they tempt to clas- 
sicism. Too much type at the hand of the printer 

[36] 



is a positive detriment. Until quite recently a 
very large proportion of the new faces had no 
warrant for existence. They were abortions, 
based upon the fantastic ideas of designers who 
exhibited little knowledge of art or of history. 
The more recent product of the foundries is 
much more creditable, and it appears that the 
designing of type has been taken in hand by 
artists of capacity, who are actuated by motives 
worthy of their ambitions and guided by his- 
torical research that is true in aim if not always 
profound. 

The typographic tendency is distinctly to- 
ward better things. It lags, however. It is not 
on the level of the other processes of printing. 
We are yet compelled to admit that presswork 
is far ahead of composition in development, as 
is the facility for compounding and handling 
inks and the selection and the manipulation 
of paper. 

In this vitally fundamental matter we have 
made little real progress. The disciples of bet- 
ter things are not honored with a following. 
They are regarded with mild interest by a few 
of the more progressive ones, with distinct dis- 
approval by the many conservatives, and with 
utter indifference by the mass. Yet they will 
win. That there is impending a considerable re- 
form in the composition of type is certain, and 

[37] 



the reform will consist in the general adoption 
of the refinements now practiced by a few: In 
a closer study of the matter of spacing andlead- . 
ing, with a view to bringing the tone of the 
page up to near the artistic requirements; in a 
better balance between body type and chapter 
and page headings; in a better, more consist- 
ent and uniform management of the folio; in 
order that those features may be actually the 
guiding and subsidiary features in typography 
that they assuredly are in the literary scheme of 
the book. 

The time is coming when a book page will 
be planned to harmonize with and express the 
literary motive; to promote ease and pleasure 
in reading; and to satisfy the innate sense of 
artistic harmony which is felt and appreciated 
by the cultivated reader, even if, as must often 
be the fact, he is quite unconscious of the ex- 
istence of such a demand. 

It is upon a basis somewhat like this that 
books should be planned: Make one page that 
meets the requirements of art and of the liter- 
ary motive, and base the book upon it. Such is 
not the general custom. It is more the fashion 
to fix the size of the book and accommodate the 
page to the arbitrary scheme, forcing the type 
and the format to adequate proportions. There 
are books that are artistically ruined by the use 

[38 ] 



of type of an inharmonious face, or that may 
be one size too small or too large; there are 
many books that are, typographically, abor- 
tions, because of neglect to conform to certain 
very simple tenets of art, when they might as 
easily have been exemplars of artistic motives 
and a comfort and delight to each cultivated 
reader. 

It is doubtless because these neglected es- 
sentials are so simple and so easily incorpo- 
rated that it is so difficult to obtain recognition 
and currency for them. But we may rejoice that 
books are beginning to receive some of this 
kind of attention, even in the big printing fac- 
tories, where books are made very much as 
barrels of flour are turned out of the great 
northwestern mills, or as bags of grain are 
discharged from the modern reapers marching 
in clattering procession over the horizon-wide 
wheat townships. 



[39] 



Proportion and the Format 




Proportion and the Format 

T I S a delicate and essential mat- 
ter to fix upon the length of the 
type page, and a difficult ques- 
tion to fix the margins. There is 
a mass of literature bearing upon 
these matters, but they cannot in every case be 
decided according to arbitrary rules. It is usu- 
ally safe to be guided by the usual rules in pro- 
portioning a page of type, and in placing the 
page upon the paper. A thorough understand- 
ing of the principles of art as they may be 
applied to printing will suggest occasional in- 
fractions of mechanical rules in the interests of 
good art. Exactly what is to be the procedure 
in every instance cannot be formulated into 
rules, but it is always possible to explain justi- 
fiable infractions of rules by reference to prin- 
ciples of art. When it is found impossible to 
thus justify departures from rule, precedent 
or convention, it is evident that art would have 
gained if the rules had been adhered to. 

The treatment of the format of a book has 
become somewhat of a moot question, though 

[43 ] 



it is evident that the advocates of the strictly 
conventional method are gradually drawing 
practical printers into agreement with them, 
and that their opponents rely upon the spirit 
of philistinism for their chief justification, con- 
fining their arguments largely to contradiction 
unfortified by either logic or precedent. Phi- 
listinism is not entirely evil, but the present is 
not a time of such slavish conformity as to 
clothe it with the appearance of a virtue. Pro- 
test is the instinctive spirit of today. In print- 
ing there is too much of it. We need more con- 
formity, if conformity be interpreted not to 
mean blind adherence to precedent but a large 
and active faith in the saving virtue of demon- 
strable principles. 

Proportion, balance, in a limited sense com- 
position as understood in art, and optics must 
be considered in adjusting the format of a book. 
The size and shape of the book must deter- 
mine the exact dimensions of the page and the 
margins. The leafofthe ordinary book which is 
generally approved is fifty per cent longer than 
it is wide. This proportion is often varied, and 
for difl^erent reasons, but it may be accepted as 
a standard. 

The margins of a correctly printed book are 
not equal. The back margin is the narrowest, 
the top a little wider than the back, the front 

[44] 



still wider, and the bottom, or tail margin, the 
widest of all. Why this scheme for margins has 
grown to be authoritative, and adopted by good 
bookmakers, is not entirely clear. Nearly all 
the literature upon the subject is devoted to at- 
tempts to justify the custom instead of explain- 
ing its origin. The best justification that can 
now be offered is the evident fact that the cus- 
tom is agreeable to publishers, to authors, and 
to discriminating readers. 

It is often alleged that there is some law of 
optics that is in agreement with the custom, 
but it might be difficult to establish such a claim 
though it is not necessary to attempt to refute 
it. We are accustomed to this arrangement of 
the margins in the best books, and that to which 
we have become accustomed requires no de- 
fense, scarcely an explanation. It is certain that 
the format of a book appeals to us as right only 
where this arrangement of unequal margins 
is strictly observed. It is easy to imagine that 
our eyes rest more contentedly upon the pair 
of pages before them when those pages incline 
toward the top of the leaves and toward each 
other. The eye of the bookish person is undeni- 
ably better satisfied if the margins are propor- 
tioned as specified. There may be grounds for 
doubting the claim that the reasons for such 
satisfaction are optical ; there are some plausible 

[45] 



arguments to support such a contention. It is 
a question for oculists. 

The other reasons for the evolution of the 
book format into its present form are logical. 
If they do not lead to the conclusion that art 
has been served and justified in full they as- 
suredly do not lead to a contrary conclusion. 
The early paper makers produced a sheet that 
was uneven in shape and variable in size, and 
the pressman was compelled to make large al- 
lowance on the front and tail margins. The 
back and top margins could be reckoned, as 
when the sheet was folded by the print they 
would be uniform. The front and tail margins 
were made wide enough to allow for the un- 
evenness of the paper and for the trim. It was 
inevitable that the allowance should be too 
great, and that to preserve the proper form and 
proportion for the book the front and tail mar- 
gins should occasionally be left wider than the 
back and head margins. This, it may be im- 
agined, did much to fix the present custom. 
The ancient handmade papers were thicker 
on the fore edge of the sheet than in the cen- 
ter, and as the bookbinder could not beat the 
edges flat they had to be trimmed off. 

In the old days books were taken more se- 
riously than they now are, and studious read- 
ers desired to annotate their copies of favorite 

[46] 



books. The front and tail margins were used 
for this purpose, and they were therefore given 
their larger proportion of the sheet. In the fif- 
teenth century this motive for wide margins 
was recognized by all printers, and many of 
them went so far as to provide printed annota- 
tions for all four of the margins. 

There were other motives for fixing the 
margins as we have them. Whether the optical 
and the artistic motives, purely as such, may 
explain the modern format more logically than 
the historical motives do, may be debatable. 
The question is not vitally important. We wish 
to see the format of our books made as the 
best practice makes it, whether our taste is in- 
herited as a habit or is acquired through our 
artistic cultivation. 

Accepting therefore the dictum as it stands, 
without pressing an inquiry as to its authority 
or its legitimacy, it remains something of a 
problem to fix the margins and place the page 
of a book. When all suggestions and rules are 
considered it will be found that it is not often 
that the ordinary book page will submit grace- 
fully to variation of the rule that the length be 
determined by cutting the page into two tri- 
angles, the hypotenuse of either of which shall 
be twice the width of the page. The page-head- 
ing should be included in this measurement, 

[47] 



but if the folio is placed at the foot, either in 
bare figures or enclosed within brackets, it need 
not be included. This formula must often be 
disregarded, especially when the book is not to 
be proportioned in conventional dimensions. 
No other form is as satisfactory however, and 
it is quite within the bounds of the practice of 
the better bookmakers to consider it as the 
approved conventional page. Whenever it is 
varied the guide must be a general sense of 
appropriateness, having consideration for all 
the other varied elements. 

There are other rules. One that was much 
in vogue at one time, and is esteemed now by 
some good printers, makes the type page one- 
half more in length than its width. This rule 
is restricted in its application. It will not do 
for a quarto page, nor for a broad octavo. An- 
other rule provides that the sum of the square 
inches on the back and top margins shall be 
one-half the sum of the square inches on the 
front and tail margins. This is difficult to ap- 
ply in practice, for obvious reasons, except as 
a test to determine the correctness of margins 
already fixed. 

The margins must be adjusted with the in- 
tent to make the two pages lying exposed to 
view properly harmonize with the book leaf, 
and adjust themselves to the tyrannical optical 

[48] 



demands of the eyes of the reader. This re- 
quires a very strict and careful adherence to 
rules well understood by good printers, as well 
as a courageous disregard of those rules when 
the exigencies of the case demand it. There are 
many other things to consider. The general 
character and purpose of the book must be 
taken intoaccount,the size of type, and whether 
it is to be leaded or set solid, the quality and 
weight of paper, etc. A bible, guide book, or 
directory, need not have wide margins, nor a 
book printed on small type and thin paper; and 
a book the type for which is not leaded should 
be given less margin than is allowed for a page 
of leaded type. While the same general scheme 
for margins is applicable to nearly all good 
books, of whatever shape and size, when the 
contents and object do not dominate the physi- 
cal character, it is obvious that the dimensions 
cannot in all cases be fixed according to the same 
formulas. A quarto page must have wider mar- 
gins than an octavo, but they must bear a like 
relative proportion to each other. A quarto 
page must be proportioned differently than an 
octavo ; it must be shorter by about one-seventh. 
The width of the margins must in some de- 
gree depend upon the amount of white in the 
page of type, upon the tone of the type page. 
This involves the character of the type face 

[49] 



quite as much as the spacing and leading given 
it, as some type faces have such light lines as 
to give the page a very light tone, even when 
the type is set solid and the spacing is close, 
other types have such heavy lines as to de- 
mand wide spacing, leading, and wide margins, 
to bring the tone down to a proper degree of 
grayness. 

Consideration of all these questions affect- 
ing the format, and especially the margins, of 
a proposed book lead to the conclusion that it 
is good practice to select the paper as the first 
step in the planning of a book that is intended 
to be made upon artistic lines, and upon this 
foundation to build the typography and the 
binding, according to the rules of harmony and 
of proportion. 



[ 50] 



Color 




Color 

N art, color is not essential to 
some forms and processes, as en- 
graving, etching, charcoal work, 
and the various forms of crayon 
work; and in printing, it is ab- 
sent from the large percentage of work done 
in black and white. 

This limitation of the application of the 
word "color" in printing is quite arbitrary. 
If we speak in the strictest sense we must con- 
sider that black and white work is color work. 
White is the concentration of all the rays of 
the solar spectrum, the epitome of all colors; 
while black is the appearance of the substance 
that most nearly rejects all reflections of the 
spectrum colors ; and black and white are as 
truly colors as are red, violet, vermilion, or any 
of the other brilliant tints. Yet as it is usual 
to allude to black and white as some other 
qualities than color, and as they affect us so dif- 
ferently, it is deemed to be more convenient 
to consider them in relation to light and shade, 
tone, and values, and to confine the meaning of 

[ 53 ] 



"color "to the tints shown by the spectrum. 
This is not an insignificant distinction when 
employed in relation to printing, as much of 
the beauty and power of the plainly printed 
book page is due to the apportionment of black 
and white — black type and white paper. So 
when we speak of color in printing it must be 
understood that the word is not used in its 
broadest, nor in its most exact, sense ; but in 
an arbitrarily restricted sense, applying exactly 
as it is applied by printers in actual practice. 

The printer's understanding of color, his 
appreciation of its usefulness and power, is ap- 
proaching toward the high esteem in which it 
is held by the painter. He is coming to know 
that it is a high quality of his work, and that 
by it he is able to suggest several other qualities 
that are vital, such as lights, shadows, perspec- 
tives, etc. 

There are no explicit rules for the guidance 
of the printer in the use of color. There are 
certain fundamental principles, and many rules 
deduced from them, a thorough acquaintance 
with which will enable him to avoid serious 
blunders and greatly aid him in the working out 
of a scheme ; but that sense of rightness which 
the successful artist or craftsman occasionally 
experiences, cannot be won by the mere follow- 
ing of the letter and the spirit of rules. How 

[54] 



true this is becomes apparent when the work 
of the best printers is examined with intelli- 
gent care, and it seems absolute when the mea- 
ger list of great painter colorists is reviewed : 
Titian, Giorgione, Tintoretto, Paul Veronese, 
Rubens, Velasquez, Delacroix, and a few with 
less claim to the title. All that is known about 
color has been absorbed by hundreds of artists ; 
yet out of a great army of successful students 
there have come so few good colorists that their 
names can be spoken in ten seconds. 

To effectively deal with color a fair under- 
standing of what science is able to tell of its 
essential properties and powers is necessary as 
a basis. To this may be added such of the de- 
ductions and rules as have been formulated by 
the great painters and the students. 

The important starting point is this : To re- 
alize that color is not a material existence, not 
a substance, not a fixed fact equally appreciable 
by all and equally demonstrable to all. It is a 
sensation; and a sensation not of the same force 
or quality for different individuals. Of itself it 
depends upon the waves of the ether in space; 
for us it depends upon the power and truth 
of our eyes. One may truthfully see a color that 
is quite another thingto another person, if there 
should chance to be a difference radical enough 
or defects serious enough in the eyes of either. 

[55] 



The laws governing light are of great impor- 
tance to the colorists. There are subtleties that 
have important practical application which 
cannot be guessed otherwise than by direct 
reference to science. In no other way can a 
printer know for example what colors are com- 
plementary or what effect a certain color will 
have upon another when they are used together. 
There are many curious facts about color 
which do not appear to be regulated by laws 
at all similar to those we are accustomed to ap- 
ply in other matters; that there is this universal 
and radical difference is of great importance to 
those who use color in printing. It is interest- 
ing to realize that color is produced by light 
waveSjthe different colors by waves of different 
lengths, or greater frequency ; that red appears 
to the eye when the light wave is -^su of an 
inch in length, or when the frequency of the 
vibration is 392 quadrillions per second, by the 
American system of enumeration. It may be 
also of practical money value to the printer to 
know such facts, and to always be conscious of 
a fact more likely to be of practical use, namely, 
that the sensation of color is produced upon our 
sensory nerves in a manner closely analogous 
to that which produces the sensation of har- 
mony : by ether waves set in motion in a dif- 
ferent way. These sensory nerves are the most 

[ 56] 



easily entered avenues to our pleasurable sen- 
sations; far more delicate and responsive than 
the different brain organs to the more obvious 
consciousnesses, as personal regard and literary 
appreciation, etc. 

The printer handling color is making an 
appeal of the most subtle and delicate nature, 
vastly more so than is made by the type matter 
that may form the body of the piece of print- 
ing he is embellishing with color. 

There are three primary colors — red, yellow, 
and blue — and three composite colors, which 
can be formed by mixings of primary colors — 
green, orange, and violet. It is of importance 
to the printer to know which of these colors 
are complementary and which uncomplemen- 
tary. Complementary colors are those that may 
be used in close conjunction without one un- 
favorably affecting the other. This is the secret 
of complementary , or harmonious, colors : Will 
they make white if mixed ? This means a natural 
and perfect union of the light rays reflected 
from the color scheme upon the eye's retina, 
and so passed along to the sensory nerves — the 
telegraph line from the physical world to the 
appreciative brain. It appears that those com- 
plementary color schemes which can be perfect- 
ly justified are such as reflect light rays near- 
est Hke the rays that show us white. Red and 

[57] 



green, the two most pronounced and vigorous 
colors, are complementary. When mixed in the 
proper proportionsthey produce white, butthis 
does not mean that they weaken each other 
when otherwise used; when placed side by side 
they enhance each other's power and brilliancy 
by reflection. Their very intimate relation is 
further shown by the fact that red, by itself, is 
bordered by a faint halo of green, and green by 
a tinge of red. Yellow and indigo also make 
white by mixing, and easily reveal traces of each 
other when properly manipulated. This inter- 
change between complementary colors is carried 
still further: The shadow of a color does not 
show the color itself, but the complementary 
color to which it is most nearly related. 

There is a curious law of optical mixture to 
deal with — that tendency of the eye to unify 
the color scheme which changes colors when 
used in combination upon a piece of printing 
or upon a canvas. This sometimes so changes 
the expected effect of a color scheme that has 
been carefully studied as to render it inadvis- 
able to use it. It is generally found that opti- 
cal mixture verifies the taste and judgment of 
the colorist who has been faithful to the com- 
plementary color laws, and helps him to a har- 
mony, rather than condemns his work. Opti- 
cal mixture is too nearly a mere name for a 

[ 58] 



manifestation of the relation of complementary 
colors to trouble the printer, though a con- 
sciousness of it and its effect may at times aid 
him in producing some delicate effects. 

The reasons for desiring reliable knowledge 
of these qualities of colors are clear. Brilliancy 
is obtained by using complementary colors side 
by side, because each gives to the other its 
favorable halo of color; and dulness of coloring 
follows the use of uncomplementary colors side 
by side because each partially kills the other 
with its unfavorable halo of color. 

Careful observance of this law of colors will 
not give perfect harmony to the color scheme, 
but it will give one of the more important ele- 
ments of harmony. But there is an important 
exceptionto be noted. The lawof contrast claims 
attention, though it cannot produce harmony. 
Strong effects may be obtained by ignoring 
these rules relative to harmony, or by boldly 
employing pronounced discords and seeking 
to so mitigate the discord as to tempt the 
attention to divide itself between the contrast- 
ing colors. Red and blue in the national flag 
are so tempered with pure white as to subdue 
their fierce antagonism. And so it may be with 
other examples — there must be either some 
overpowering sentiment or some skilful expe- 
dient, like breaking the main colors into lower 

[ 59 ] 



tints, to ease the transit from one to the other. 
A good piece of color work need not be com- 
posed of different colors. It may be composed 
of different shades of the same color, or of tints 
very nearly related. This requires a good work- 
able knowledge of perspective and of that rather 
elusive and indefinite quality known in paint- 
ing as "values"; which chiefly means that each 
tint employed in a piece of work shall be placed 
as it would appear in nature and shall proper- 
ly harmonize with every shade or color in the 
piece. Such a composition as this is difficult for 
a letter-press printer, less so for a lithographer, 
with exactly the kind of delicate manoeuvering 
that delights some painters. It involves such 
fine discriminations as are necessary to show the 
difference between a white handkerchief and 
white snow, between a gray house and a gray 
sky, between a green tree and a green moun- 
tain, between a carnation pink and a pink mus- 
lin gown. 

It is well to appreciate the difference between 
color and colors, and to recognize the fact that 
good color does not necessarily alone mean the 
degree of brightness or contrast, but is oftener 
found in accordance, mellowness and richness. 
Colordoes not always mean bright color. There 
is beginning to be seen some low keyed color 
work, simple in color composition. It is a good 

[60] 



sign. It is only the masters who are able to 
successfully cope with the high keyed composi- 
tions, and the masters are, as they ever were, 
scarce. 

The wise choose, when there is a choice, such 
harmonies as may be indicated by mahogany 
wood and Cordova leather; Indian red instead 
of brick red, peacock blue instead of sky blue, 
olive green instead of grass green; golden 
browns, garnet reds, Egyptian yellows, deep 
tones of brown, green, and orange. These colors 
are not gay, flippant nor flimsy ; they are dig- 
nified and good style ; they have a quality of 
beauty inherent in them — a depth; and they 
may be in keeping with a motive in the printed 
piece that means something other and better 
than a shock to the color sense. 



[6, ] 



Tone 




Tone 

O quality of printing is of more 
general importance than tone. 
It has great weight as a purely 
artistic attribute, and it has a 
great physiological value. If the 
tone of a page of print is not right — if it does 
not conform very closely to the standard set up 
bythe rules of art — it will not be "easy" read- 
ing, and will severely try eyes that are not ab- 
solutely normal and perfectly strong. Here as 
elsewhere, and as is the unvarying rule, the art 
standard is the standard required by hygiene 
and common sense. 

It is of the greatest importance that a printed 
page shall be toned, with respect to the pro- 
portion of visible white paper and black type, 
in strict accord with the requirements of art, 
which are identical with the rules that guard 
healthy eyesight. 

Tone in painting has a radically different 
meaning in America from themeaningattached 
to the term in England and in France, and it 
appears to be less important. The American 

[65] 



meaning of the word tone as an element in 
painting is that it refers to the dominant color 
of a picture; that is, as one would note that the 
prevailing color of a certain picture is red, of 
another yellow, of another blue. This makes 
of tone a mere descriptive adjective of small 
value as an aid to a critical estimate or as a guide 
in creation. To the printer, this meaning of the 
term would bar it out of his curriculum. The 
Englishunderstandingoftoneisquite different, 
and it appears more worthy of acceptance. It is, 
at all events, the meaning that must be accepted 
by printers if they are to derive any benefit from 
a study of tone as a possible aid in their craft. 
The English consider tone to be "the proper 
diffusion of light as it affects the intensities of 
the different objects in the picture; and the 
right relation of objects or colors in shadow to 
the parts of them not in shadow and to the 
principal light." 

It is easier, and may be clearer, to think of 
tone in a piece of type composition, or in a 
black-and-white engraving prepared for print- 
ing, somewhat as we think of tone in music. 
And we find upon getting further into the sub- 
ject that it is expedient to take advantage of 
the extreme comity at present existing between 
England and America and let the two mean- 
ings of tone merge into a more general one for 
[66] 



the benefit and use of the printer in practice. 
The painter's estimate of the tone of a painting 
may be understood by applying a test cited by 
a writeruponart:"If thecanvaswere placed up- 
on a revolving pin and whirled rapidly around, 
the coloring would blend into a uniform tint." 
The color tone of a painting must then be the 
dominant color, modified by the subordinate 
colors. If the color tone be yellow for example, 
as it is in some of the good work of Dutch 
artists, there must be enough yellow so that it 
will be a yellow blur if the piece is spun rap- 
idly around. 

In black-and-white printing tone must mean 
depth of color, and diffusion of color, and the 
tone can scarcely be otherwise than some shade 
of gray. If it is advantageous to strive for a cer- 
tain harmony between literary motive and type 
motive an appreciation of the technical mean- 
ing of tone and the utilization of the unique 
test suggested may be of great assistance to the 
printer of black-and-white work. 

The printer has to consider the tone of his 
piece in a different light than the painter. The 
latter has only his canvas to take account of, 
and he works his canvas to its edge. The printer 
has his page of type and his margins. This 
blends the question of tone in a very practical 
way with questions bearing upon the format — 

[67] 



with the question of proportion for example, 
and with the important question of the balance 
of the margins; and while the determination 
of the tone of the type page itself, irrespective 
of the margins, involves one weighty question 
in optics, the placing of the type page upon 
the leaf involves another, quite different in na- 
ture but none the less important from an artis- 
tic point of view. 

It is easily perceived that the element of tone 
is of considerable importance in what is erro- 
neously called "plain" composition, the black- 
and-white book page. In color printing it is 
apparent that the knowledge of tone is of more 
practical importance, as colored printed pieces 
should show a decided preponderance of that 
tone which best illustrates or translates the idea 
that the piece is conceived for the purpose of 
expressing. It may be important that a certain 
piece emphatically presents to the eye a certain 
shade of red. It must be just enough given over 
to the red to produce the effect required — no 
more, no less. There must be red everywhere, 
but not too much. The simple test will show 
the printer whether he is overloading his piece 
with the dominant color or whether he has not 
yet used enough. The color scheme must be 
keyed to the required pitch of color, as a piece 
of music written in a certain key must be kept 
[68] 



free from notes belonging to another key. But 
not absolutely free, of necessity; short notes of 
another key, and very few of them, may be in- 
troduced. So atouch of aradically different color 
may be thrust into a composition without ruin- 
ing it, as a bit of brick red or small patch of 
blue in a monotone, or a little green or yellow 
in a red composition, but not enough to show 
plainly when we apply the whirling test. 

This more obvious meaning of the term tone 
seems to be applicable to printing, at least to 
the extent of informing and modifying the mind 
of the printer. The moreimportant significance 
of the term in painting means but little to the 
printer, as it deals in modifications and grada- 
tions in color not practicable in typography, 
and applying, so far as printing in general is 
concerned, to engravings. 



[69] 



Light and Shade 




Light and Shade 

IGHT and shade means nearly 
the same as the English idea of 
tone, to the printer, as it has to 
do with the distribution of light 
and shadow in such a manner as 
will best illustrate the motive of the painter. 
This important element in graphic art has its 
value for the printer. It is only necessary to note 
the part played by light and shade — "light- 
tone" — inany work of art to conceive how im- 
portant is its office in good printing, particularly 
in the printing of the modern process engrav- 
ings. Some of the older Japanese and Chinese 
paintings are nearly devoid of light and shade, 
and are therefore given that appearance of flat- 
ness and false perspective which is their dis- 
tinctive characteristic. Egyptian and Assyrian 
wall painting, and many Italian paintings of 
the medieval period, lack this quality, and they 
sharply emphasize its importance in graphic 
art. In nature it is more important than in art. 
We can recognize no form except by the aid 
of light and shade, neither a grain of sand nor 

[73 ] 



a mountain, nor any other physical thing. It 
is probable that every piece of good printing 
owes some of its excellence to this element of 
light and shade; and as directly to tone. Light 
and shade has reference to the proper propor- 
tion of light to shadow, and of shadow to light ; 
not to the proper proportion of light to shade 
in a composition. That is tone. Is there light 
enough to supplement the shadow, and thus 
bring the object illustrated into such reasonable 
harmony with nature as to warrant us in accept- 
ing it as a faithful picture of nature? Does the 
composition, in other words, appear natural to 
an untrained vision? 

It is the persistent study of this question of 
light and shade which has rescued the halftone 
engraving from the pit of oblivion into which 
it seemed destined to fall during its early days, 
and placed it in the forefront of illustrative pro- 
cesses. Probably the halftone of today, which 
in competent hands is a superb and exact re- 
corder of nature, is not strikingly better in any 
other detail than it was in its early days except 
the one quality of light and shade. This variety 
of illustration was as flat and as expressionless 
asa Chinese painting until artist, engraver, and 
printer conspired to give it expression and veri- 
similitude by working up its capacity to bring 
light and shade fully and broadly to its task. 

[74] 



There can be no rule that will apply to this em- 
ployment of light and shade. Rules there are, 
but they apply with truth only to one experi- 
ence — that which prompted their formulation. 
The eye of the printer is the guide. This is the 
reason why he should study this question, and 
others of similar artistic value, from the point 
of view of the artist, not from the viewpoint of 
the printer. 



[7J3 



Values 




Values 

HE quality in a painting which 
isknown as "values" may quite 
easily be regarded by the print- 

eras signifying to him the same 

t/ \0^ as tone. Careful study will show 
him that there is a difference, and also that 
value is a vital element in his work which has 
for him a real significance. Value may not un- 
fairly be considered to be an element of tone. 
It relates to the intensity of light; not the bril- 
liancy of color, but the capacity that resides in 
color to reflect light. I n color printing the value 
of the most common colors ranks with yellow 
first, then orange, green, red, blue, and violet. 
That is, yellow is capable of reflecting more light 
from the same quantity of sunlight than any 
other color, and violet less than any other color. 
Scientists have reckoned that chrome yellow 
reflects 80 per cent of light, green 40 per cent, 
etc. These figures serve no very practical pur- 
pose, because the reflecting power of any tint 
is dependent upon the other colors employed. 
Colors are dependent upon each other for their 

[79] 



value as well as for their intensity and their har- 
mony. It is not difficult to treat this matter of 
value in a mathematical way, as is suggested by 
Prof. J. C. Van Dyke : " Let the chrome yellow 
with its 80 per cent of light represent a sunset 
sky in the background; let the green with its 
40 per cent represent the grass in the imme- 
diate foreground ; and let the orange-red with 
its 60 per cent represent the sail of a Venetian 
fishing vessel upon the water of the middle dis- 
tance. Now we have the three leading pitches 
of light in the three planes of the picture," and 
the problem would stand thus: 40:60:: 60:80 
and the result will indicate the relative power 
of the value in the picture. 

Interesting, but not especially useful, the 
"practical" printer says. No, not unless there 
is recognizable in this, as in all that has been 
said about art in printing, the subtle relation 
between the vital elements of graphic art and 
those refinements of knowledge and practice 
which tend to bring printing nearer to the arts. 
The connection is there, and is evident to the 
seeing eye. In nature and in life the sense of 
values is of such importance that without it 
objects would not have relative positions; all 
would be a jumble of shades and tones, objects 
and colors; we would stumble, as we could not 
see depressions; we would grasp an arm or the 

[80] 



empty air, when we attempted to seize a hand; 
we could not judge distances. It is upon the 
extent and the thoroughness of the printer's 
knowledge of this question of values that the 
degree of refinement and truth he is able to 
impart to a certain class of work depends, and 
hence its money value to him and its intrinsic 
value to his patrons. 



[8. ] 



Paper 



Paper 

^r^*^^0 APER is as important an artistic 
if ^ Juf ^'^ esthetic element in the well- 
(\ r^Ju '"^^^ book as it is as a technical 
^ ^Of\yL^ element; and it is likewise to be 
fe; C gy^ regarded from the point of view 
of the optician and the physiologist. 

It is possible to select a paper for any book 
that will lend itself to the artistic scheme of the 
book. It has not long been possible to do this. 
The product of the skilled paper maker has 
morethan quadrupled, in artistic variety, during 
the few years last past, until it is now the fault 
of its designer if a book intended to be harmo- 
niously artistic is not as true to its motive in 
paper as in typography or binding. But it is evi- 
dent that paper for a book cannot be selected 
without reference to the typography, the plates, 
and other mechanicalfeatures. A grade of paper 
that would be appropriate for the printing of 
a rugged-faced type (like Caslon) upon, would 
not do at all for a conventional type, such as the 
Scotch face, it might be discovered, even though 
the paper, in texture and finish, seemed to be 

[85] 



peculiarly appropriate for the literary motive. 
There are certain type faces which may be print- 
ed upon paper that is milk white, and certain 
other faces that lend themselves more readily 
to the production of harmonious tonal effects 
whenthe paper hasa"naturar' tint, or is thrown 
strongly toward a brown color. Either of these 
combinations, or any similar combination, may 
harmonize unfavorably with the literary mo- 
tive, or with the scheme for proportion and 
balance, or with the tone and values element, 
and though admirable in itself have to be finally 
rejected. 

The weight and texture of the paper have to 
be considered as minutely and as carefully, and 
with the same principles in full view. A deU- 
cate and shy literary motive must not be given 
the massive dignity of heavy handmade paper 
and large and strong type. Such a scheme is 
harrowing to a sensitive reader's nerves and 
rudely subversive of the more obvious and 
elemental artistic principles. 

It is a complex and an involved process to 
select the proper paper for a given piece of 
printing, and the rightful decision of either of 
the component elements involves the rightful 
decision with reference to each of the others. 
Itisimpossibleto considerthequestion of paper 
apart from a consideration of the typography, 
[86] 



the illustrations, the format, and the binding; 
and it is not possible to consider either of these 
elements apart from the literary motive, which 
must always be the foundation of the structure. 

Paper is one of the group of coordinately 
important elements in a piece of artistic print- 
ing, and only one, and never otherwise than 
strictly coordinate. It may not be considered by 
itself, unless possible disaster be consciously 
and deliberately invited. 

Therefore beforethespecificationsfora book 
or other piece of printing are otherwise fixed, it 
is necessary to decide upon the paper to be used. 
It is one of the elements of printing over which 
the printer exercises no control except the lib- 
erty of choice. Hecanchoosethe paper he wishes 
to use, but he cannot adapt it. He can adapt his 
typographic plan and his color scheme, and ad- 
just them to the paper in such fashion as will 
result in harmony for the completed work, but 
his paper he is obliged to take as the paper- 
maker furnishes it. For this reason, and because 
the paper is actually a foundation element in 
printing, it is necessary that printers know about 
paper, and that those who essay to execute work 
of a high standard be familiar with its history, 
composition, and methods of manufacture. 

Too much importance will not be Hkely to 
be attached to the history of paper, for it runs 

[ 87] 



parallel with the record of the advance of civili- 
zation and learning, and it has been an indis- 
pensable factor in that advance. When we note 
the important part played by paper in the com- 
plicated scheme of our twentieth century lives, 
we maygain some faint appreciation of its place 
and relative importance as a factor of life. As a 
factor in printing it has been customary to place 
paper first in the list. It is a safe practice, though 
the versatility of the paper makers is yearly 
making it less essential to do so. Yet, when all 
the progress in paper making has been con- 
sidered, it paradoxically remains that the selec- 
tion of paper by the printer is not the simple 
matter it was only a few years ago. 

With the progress of the art of printing dur- 
ing the last quarter of the nineteenth century 
there has come complexity in all its branches. 
Type has been wondrously multiplied, inks 
are in greater profusion, and varieties of paper 
have rapidly multiplied. The good printer of 
today needs to know the history of the evolu- 
tion of type, ink, and paper, if he hopes to be 
able to cope successfully with the problems 
facing him. 

One reason for this particularity of knov:- 

ledge is the tendency of the laity to study the 

technical phases of printing. Type founders 

have courted the attentionof large consumers 

[88 ] 



of printed matter and of large advertisers, and 
the lay knowledge of type has led to a like 
result regarding paper. So that it at present 
happens that the printer's patron is able to 
dictate the style of typography he desires, and 
the quality and tint of paper he prefers. This 
predicates knowledge on the part of the printer; 
and in the case of paper it necessitates expert 
knowledge. Type is type, speaking somewhat 
loosely, and, whatever the crotchet a consumer 
of printing may get into his head it is not likely 
to cost more than about so much a pound. It is 
otherwise with paper, and generally it is more 
the color, texture, and appearance the patron 
wishes than the intrinsic value, and the printer 
must make a choice that shall satisfy the artistic 
exigencies of the case, as well as consider its 
financial aspects. One paper may be unsuited 
for a particular piece of work, and another of 
the same tint, weight, and price may be exactly 
suitable; and the reason may He in so obscure 
a cause as the peculiar process of manufacture, 
or the chemical nature of material used by cer- 
tain paper mills, or a slight variation in finish 
that may affect ink in a different manner. 

A bright and observing printer inevitably be- 
comes more orless versed in paper.Hehandles it 
continually, and cannot avoid recognizing cer- 
tain more evident differences. What is learned 

[89] 



in this way is good knowledge, but it takes a 
long time to get a comprehensive acquaintance 
with paper, and there has not in the meantime 
been built up that flawless reputation for good 
work which all printers regard as the very best 
capital. 

The printer who knows about paper knows 
about its history, its composition, and themeth- 
ods of manufacture. To him wood-pulp paper 
is not all the same, and he knows what he means 
when he speaks of "all rag" or "handmade." 
He knows that paper made wholly of wood 
varies in goodness according as it is made by 
this or that process — mechanical wood, soda, 
or sulphite; and knows that "all rags" may be 
all cotton, or all linen, or a combination of rags, 
or a combination of wood and rags, or indeed 
all wood, or some vegetable fiber not specified. 
It is not the mere exhibition of this sort of 
knowledge that particularly signifies; it is that 
it adds greatly to the printer's power to execute 
good work, as it places him in a position to 
select the most suitable paper, and insures his 
reputation. It enables him to execute a piece of 
work intended to endure a long time in a man- 
ner that will preserve its beauty, so that it will 
not fade or turn a dirty brown or yellow color, 
as well as to make his paper play its legitimate 
role as the most im portant inflexible art element 

[90] 



he will usually find it necessary to deal with. 
A knowledge of paper in this thorough sense 
is even more desirable if a printer presumes 
to arrogate to himself the title and qualities of 
an artist. It is scarcely too radical to assert that 
the esthetics of printing depend for exempli- 
fication more upon paper than upon typog- 
raphy. It has been said that type, ink, and paper 
go to the making of good printing. This for- 
mula may be reversed and made to read paper, 
ink, and type, since so much of the effect of 
decorative printing depends upon the paper 
and the ink. If these two harmonize properly 
it remains that the type must not interfere but 
must play the negative role of conformity. It 
is the paper that is selected first, then the ink, 
and lastly the typography is brought into the 
scheme. Typography, as an ornate art, has 
dwindled, and the skilled constructor of won- 
derful effects with types and rule is no longer 
esteemed in the job room. The arbiter of style 
sits in the counting-room, and turns the leaves 
of the paper and type specimen books before 
the critical eyes of the patron. The job is built 
upon a paper sample, and the designer sees it 
completed in his mind before he sends it to the 
compositor. 



[91 ] 



Style 




Style 

TYLE Is that subtle atmosphere 
pervading literary, artistic and 
handicraft work that suggests the 
cultivated personality of the au- 
thor. It is not a usual nor a clear 
conception of style to consider the term as 
applicable to inferior work. The word, as used 
to designate quality, has come to mean positive 
and recognizable merit, and generally also that 
indefinite but powerfully distinctive merit indi- 
cating individuality. 

The word is used somewhat in this sense, 
though more broadly, in descriptive art nomen- 
clature, as when the style of a Rubens or of a 
Titian is spoken of; and in art it often appears 
that the word is used more commonly to des- 
ignate a school or a genre of painting, than to 
point to the work of any particular person of 
the present or the recent past. Yet it is noted 
that whenever an artist is able to attract favor- 
able attention through the exercise of talents 
markedly his own, he is at once credited with 
a style that is distinctively and peculiarly his. 

[95] 



It is quite fair and just therefore to consider 
that style in printing means that quality of 
beauty or distinction which is to be directly 
referred to the printer, rather than those merito- 
rious qualities that owe their existence to care- 
ful followingofestablishedrules and principles, 
concerning which all printers have, or may have, 
a working knowledge. There are some printers 
whose work is so redolent of a pecuHar style as 
to be recognizable to observing persons; and 
such work has a quality that may almost be said 
to be narrow. The possessor of a style pro- 
nounced enough to have attracted attention is 
also usually limited in his range; is, in fact, an 
exponent of his own peculiar style and is but 
little else. 

Style does not absolutely involve excellence; 
only a distinctive individuality. That individ- 
uality may produce printed work that may be 
wholly bad, or it may be the hall mark of a 
supreme excellence. This is the technical mean- 
ing of the word. In usage the word style is 
generally understood to imply excellence, and 
a high grade and peculiarly distinctive excel- 
lence. The derivation of the word is sugges- 
tive of the accepted appreciation of its scope. 
It is the Latin name for an iron pen, but it has 
come to signify not only the art that wields 
the pen but it is applied to the whole range of 

[96] 



the productive activities of man; to music, 
painting, architecture, sculpture, dancing, act- 
ing, tennis and baseball playing; to burglary 
and picking of pockets, and to printing. 

In printing, style is an element of value, and 
maybe accorded as careful attention as is given 
to the type outfit, to the presses, or to the em- 
ployes. We can perhaps think of half a dozen 
printers who have made great reputations and 
considerable fortunes through having a style 
that appealed singularly to purchasers of print- 
ed matter. What is there in the work of Mr. 
De Vinne's press that gives the name a distinct 
value? Why do publishers announce in their 
advertisements that certain books are printed 
by De Vinne? Mr. De Vinne's style is valu- 
able to him and to the publishers who employ 
him to make books for them. 

Probably there is not an intelligent printer 
who may read this who does not recognize the 
value of style in printing, and who does not, 
more or less seriously, struggle to acquire for 
himself a distinctive style, and chiefly because 
he knows that the possession of a style that 
appealstothe buyers of printed matterisalmost 
the only sure means of gaining new clients and 
holding old ones, and obtaining profit-making 
prices. While there are many printers who will 
be inclined to scout the idea that the possession 

[97] 



of a style of their own would be of financial 
advantage to them, it is a fundamental element 
in success. There needs must be some diggers 
of ditches, h ewers of wood and drawers of water, 
and it is probably true that the great bulk of 
printing will continue to be done by workmen, 
a small proportion of it by artisans, and an 
almost infinitesimal portion by artists. Never- 
theless, there is a gravitation toward the artisan 
class, and from it to the sparse company of the 
artist printers. 

" The only way," says an acute literary critic, 
"to get a good style is to think clearly." That 
is in literature. 

In printing, the only way to get a good style 
is to know thoroughly. Yet it is not all to know. 
The knowledge must be expressed, and it must 
be expressed in a manner agreeable to those to 
whom printed matter is to appeal. They do not 
always know the point of view of the printer, 
even if he has a style that is admirable. So his 
style must, after all, be subordinate to clearness 
and comprehensibility. 

In a piece of printing it is necessary to bring 
out"the extreme characteristic expression" of 
the central motive. That is, if the piece of print- 
ing is intended to promote the sale of a cer- 
tain substance or article it is desirable that all 
the suggestive power residing in the types be 

[98] 



brought into play to drive the motive home. 
This is however a secondary quaUty of style. 
The primary quality is that which attracts the 
eye, and style for the printer may be limited 
to those qualities that do most attract the eye 
quickly and agreeably. 

The secondary literary constituent of style, 
which is harmony, takes first rank in printing. 
The three essentials of printing style may be 
generalized as knowledge, harmony, and ex- 
pressiveness. In literature they are thought, 
expressiveness, and harmony, or melody, as 
some have it. The greatest of these is, of course, 
knowledge — knowledge of the fundamentals 
which go to the making of the best printing. 

It is not possible to teach style. It is almost 
as impossible to acquire style. This seems hke 
a paradox, but a paradox is not always a sym- 
bol of hopelessness. Style must be born in a 
man — style in any art or profession. "Style," 
a writer has recently said, " is gesture — the ges- 
ture of the mind and of the soul." We can elim- 
inate the last clause, and call style in printing 
the gesture of the mind, the evidence of the 
amount and degree of knowledge possessed by 
the mind, tempered, arranged, given distinc- 
tion, by the born talent, aptitude, or whatever 
it may be termed, which is the seed germ of 
style. We do not hesitate to accept the obvious 



theory that artists are born, not made. Some 
claim for printing that it is an art. Why then 
should we hesitate to admit that a printer cap- 
able of cultivating and expressing a genuine 
style must depend upon something other than 
mere knowledge; something deeper and more 
subtle than knowledge, which is able to mould 
knowledge into style? 

Style, in the highest sense, is given to but 
few, and we cannot hope that printers will be 
more favored, in proportion, than the practi- 
tioners of other graphic arts. But they may be 
as highly favored, if they avail themselves of the 
opportunities for culture that are open to them, 
as they are open to other artists, and not other- 
wise. While it is not to be expected that the 
printing art will produce Morrises or Bradleys 
with great profuseness, it is to be frankly ad- 
mitted that in the grade next below — the grade 
of talent, that is, as distinguished from the grade 
of genius — there is not found the high average 
of attainment among printers that rules in other 
graphic arts. The reason is as obvious as the 
fact : Printers are not students, in the sense that 
painters, etchers, engravers, illustrators, and 
even photographers, are students. Printers (the 
progressive ones) have in recent years become 
close observers and good imitators, but there 
are few who have attempted to qualify them- 

[ lOO ] 



selves for original work by thorough study of 
those principles of graphic art that vitally con- 
trol printing. The artist, in any other line than 
printing, comes to the practice of his art only 
after prolonged study and mastery of the prin- 
ciples and the laws governing it. Not so with the 
printer. 

Thetime has arrivedwhen eminence in print- 
ing means much more than good work along 
existing lines. It means a radical departure and 
the full recognition of the power and value of 
art in printing. We have been rather hesitant 
in accepting this word, art, as applying legiti- 
mately to printing, and we have been hesitating 
merely because we have seen the term so freely 
and ignorantly applied to work that merited no 
better name than archaic; to work that, while 
it usually possessed the common virtues of good 
mechanical execution, was wholly deficient in 
those qualities which fairly entitled it to be called 
artistic. But we must put away this prejudice 
against an innocent and needed term, and bold- 
ly reclaim it from the philistines. We must re- 
instateinthepublicmind, and in ourown minds, 
the thing and the name that fittingly describes 
the thing. We must make art printing mean art 
printing. 

Style should be the goal of the printer who 
cherishes hopes of distinction or of wealth. 

[ lO' ] 



We have said that style is born in a man, not 
acquired by him. This is true, if we consider the 
highest development of style. But we are all 
capable of greatly improving our style by study. 
We cannot improve upon it in any other way. 
It is almost useless for us to observe the good 
work of others, for this purpose. We must go 
beyond that. The first step is to keenly realize 
the need. We are on a par with every other per- 
son who wishes to truly understand any art. We 
cannot arrive at that understanding by merely 
wishing it. There is no understanding of art 
except through study of art. 

We may spend a lifetime looking at the great 
paintings of the world and then know so little 
about them as to appreciate but a tithe of the 
rich store of culture and pleasure they hold in 
reserve for us. We may cultivate ataste for paint- 
ings by putting ourselves frequently under their 
influence, as we may build up a taste for liter- 
ature by strenuous reading. But knowledge, as 
distinguished from acquaintance, gives us a very 
different conception of a painting, or a piece of 
sculpture, or an example of any form of art, and 
reveals to us new beauties. So it is in printing. 
We cannot do good color printing unless we 
understand color as an artist understands it; we 
cannot get the best results from a halftone en- 
graving unless we understand tone, light and 

[ I02 ] 



shade, and values, as an artist understands them . 
We are not sure of our ground with regard to a 
page of plain type matter unless we know some- 
thing conclusive about the fundamentals of art. 
We cannot take one pronounced step to- 
ward acquiring style until we realize the need, 
the vital need, of a good foundation knowledge 
of art — not in a historical sense, but in a tech- 
nical sense — for the technique of printing that 
is better than good. 



[ 103 ] 



The Binding 




The Binding 

T is a pity that bookbinding and 
printing have drifted so far apart, 
since they are so intimately rela- 
ted. A good book cannotbepro- 
duced without the cooperation 
of both crafts, and that cooperation ought to be 
of a much closer nature. The printing and the 
binding of a book should be done by artists or 
craftsmen actuated by a unity of purpose and 
effort similar to the unity that must prevail in 
the book if it is to express anything worthy. 
Inthe production of books of a high excellence 
it is necessary that the binding shall chord with 
the general nature as expressed through the 
printing and as fixed by the literary body. This 
result can only be assured if the printers and 
the binders work in close harmony. When it is 
manifestly present in the book of today it is 
necessary to assume that the agreeable result 
follows the effects of some influence outside of 
printers and binders, brought strongly to bear 
upon each, rather than the result of a harmo- 
nious understanding of the artistic proprieties 

[ 107] 



of the case by either the printer or the binder. 
Binding has a double significance: It is essen- 
tially artistic, and emphatically a mechanical 
process. In its artistic phase it rivals printing; 
it is considered to be quite apart from printing, 
in fact, since there is a pretty decided cult in 
bindingthat takes nocognizanceof typography 
or of literary character. With this collector's 
estimate of bindings we are not here concerned. 
The desire to cheapen production has led to 
serious deterioration in the quality of binding, 
ofthe ordinary library editions of books, during 
the past century. Machine methods, unobjec- 
tionable when used upon very cheap books but 
disastroustothe lasting quality of library books, 
have obtained an undesirable vogue, and they 
are so capable of cleverly simulating good work 
that they have been a very active agent in the 
decay of good binding practice. The results of 
the more recent binding methods are extremely 
lamentable, and those results have but partially 
made themselves manifest. The next genera- 
tion, and the generations after the next, will 
suffer for the sins ofthe binders of the books 
issued during the last half of the nineteenth 
century. The twentieth century may achieve no 
more creditable record, but the sinning will be 
in the light and will not be due to ignorance. 
The English Society of Arts charged a special 
[ io8 ] 



committee with the task of investigating the 
cause of the decay in bindings, and the report 
of this committee may be one impulse urging 
pubHshers to require better workmanship and 
better methods. This committee formulated five 
specifications against prevailing methods, each 
of which constitutes a defect of a radical nature 
recognizable and curable only by bookbinders 
orexpertsin bookbinding. Books are, this com- 
mittee found, sewn on too fewandtoothin cords; 
the slips are pared down too much and are not 
always firmly enough laced into the boards;the 
use of hollow backs is condemned; headbands 
are not sufficiently strong to hold the leather of 
the back against the strain of taking the book 
from the shelf; leather used is often far too thin ; 
leather is wetted and stretched to such a point 
that little strength is left to resist wear and tear. 
It must be noted in extenuation that at least 
one of the counts in this indictment may be 
partially condoned, upon the ground that the 
fault crept into bookbinding practice with the 
intent to facilitate the reading of the book and 
notto cheapen its production. The hollow back 
was adopted for the twofold purpose of allow- 
ing the book to be opened easily and flatly and 
to preserve the tooling and gilding on the back. 
This form of back need not be always reckoned 
as bad. It is quite possible to bind a book well 

[ 109 ] 



and use the hollow back, and it is extremely 
easy to use the hollow back to cover sins that 
ought not to be condoned in a binding. 

The life of a book depends upon its binding. 
The leading idea in planning a binding for a 
good book should therefore be to strive for 
strength, durability, and convenience. To beau- 
tify a book in its binding should be the sec- 
ondary motive. But the idea of beauty, through 
harmony and the application of elementary art 
precepts, may always be considered with the 
strictly utilitarian processes, and the book may 
be brought into close accord with the require- 
ments of art without any strain for art efforts 
being apparent nor any economical or mechani- 
cal purpose being strained or perverted. This 
can be effected by arranging the binding to tone 
with the literary and typographic motives, and 
studying to have all details harmonious — such 
as the lettering on the side and back ; the design 
of the stamp for the cover, if there be a stamp; 
the material for the cover, its texture and its 
color, etc. 

It is manifestly impossible to put into print 
specific directions for the binding of a book to 
bring it within the meaning of the term "artis- 
tic" while it does not depart from the ordinary 
in quality or form. It is quite easy to perceive 
however that for a book of a certain literary 

[ "°] 



quality a binding consisting of a buckram back 
and paper sides is exactly appropriate, while a 
cloth binding with a gilt stamp is obviously not 
harmonious. If the title-stamp on the back of 
a book is made of type unlike that used for the 
title-page there is a jarring note that might eas- 
ily have been avoided. The motive of a book 
should extend its influence to, and envelope, 
every process necessary for its completion; it 
should be as apparently in control of every 
detail of the visible binding as of the typog- 
raphy, the format, and the paper. It produces 
an agreeable impression upon the reader if he 
discovers this artistic unity in a book he hopes 
to extract literary profit or enjoyment from — 
if the typography, the format, the paper, and 
the binding all tone to the same key, and that 
key in harmony with the literary motive. 

This much of art is possible for all bindings. 
"When they rise above this mere expression of 
harmony, of unity, there is a widely different 
question involved. Then there must be art for 
art's sake, rather than art for the book's sake; 
and of bindings that are in and of themselves 
works of art we have for the present nothing 
to say. 

As to exactly what constitutes a proper bind- 
ing for a given book there may be differences 
of opinion, especially if the inquiry be pushed 

[ "I ] 



so far as to involve questions of art, or ques- 
tions concerning the artistic qualities of har- 
mony and unity. There are however certain 
broad lines which may be indicated within which 
worthybindingsmustbebroughtjleavingplen- 
ty of latitude for individuality in taste and in 
judgment. What these basic requirements are 
is perfectly known to practical bookbinders 
and to publishers; to many printers as well. 
They should be as familiar to the lay mind, and 
every book should have printed somewhere in 
it a clear statement of the specifications of its 
binding. Its typography is visible; so is its for- 
mat and its paper. The vital parts of its binding 
are concealed, from the expert as from the tyro, 
and every purchaser of an ordinary book stands 
to lose heavily if the foundations of its binding 
are not honestly laid. 

The specifications for the binding of a fine 
book should show, then, that the cover ma- 
terial is all leather of some one of the approved 
sorts and properly manufactured, sheets care- 
fully folded, single leaves guarded round the 
sections next to them, all plates guarded, guards 
sewn through, and no pasting or overcasting; 
end papers sewn on and made of good paper, 
board papers of good quality of paper or vel- 
lum ;edgestobetrimmed and gilt before sewing, 
or left uncut; sewing to be with ligature silk 

[ "^] 



arou nd five bands of best sewing cord ; back to be 
as nearly flat as possible without forcing it and 
without danger of its becoming concave in use ; 
boards to be of the best black millboard, and 
the five bands laced in through two holes ; head- 
bands to be worked with silk on strips of vel- 
lum or catgut or cord, with frequent tiedowns, 
and "set" by pieces of good paper or leather 
glued at head and tail ; lettering to be legible, 
in harmony with the typography of the book 
or with the decorations ; decorations such as may 
be wished. 

These skeletonized specifications may be 
modified in some particulars if they are to be 
applied to grades of books below the best, but 
great care and good judgment must be exer- 
cised to guard against an extent of deterioration 
which will bring the book below its standard of 
utility and beauty. For library books, for ex- 
ample, the covers may be half leather or any ot 
the several serviceable cloths; the end papers 
may dispense with the board papers; the edges 
may be cut guillotine and colored instead of gilt, 
or the top only may be gilt; the sewing may be 
done withunbleached thread and the tapesmay 
be reduced to four of unbleached linen; the 
boards may be of split gray stock or of straw- 
board with black boardhner, and the tapes may 
be attached to portion of waste sheet inserted 
[ "3 ] 



between the boards; the headbands may be 
omitted and cord substituted, or they may be 
worked with thread or vellum. 



[ "4] 



specifications 



specifications 

The paper in this book is French handmade, 
16x20 — 29, imported by the Japan Paper 
Company of New York, and catalogued as 
No. 333. 

The type is a liberal modification of the Cas- 
lon, 12 point. It was designed and cast by the 
Boston branch of the American Type Foun- 
ders Company, and had never been used until 
set for this book. 

The binding is accordingto the specifications 
of the Society of Arts, of London. The sheets 
are folded with special care, end papers are made 
with zigzag and sewn on, edges are uncut, sig- 
natures are sewn with unbleached thread over 
three unbleached linen tapes, back left nearly 
square, boards of the best black millboard, cov- 
ers of imported marbled paper, and the backs 
of art vellum, with paper label. The binding 
was executed by the regular force of workmen 
and in the regular routine of commercial work. 

The composition of the type was by a jour- 
neyman and an apprentice, and the presswork 
was done on a half super royal Colt's Armory 

[ "7] 



press. No attempt has been made to execute 
the work in other than the ordinary manner, 
with ordinary appliances and ordinary work- 
men. All the material is such as is regularly 
carried in stock by dealers. 



[ "8] 



THIS EDITION CONSISTS OF 9JJ NUMBERED 
COPIES PRINTED AT THE IMPERIAL PRESS 
CLEVELAND, OHIO, IN NOVEMBER, 1903, OF 
WHICH THIS IS NUMBER ^(^ ^ 



DEC 1 9 1£03 



